Disclaimer: Not J. K. Rowling, I own nothing.

Thanks to my beta, Mamacita-San – she's amazing!

That night, Harry had a very strange dream. He was standing on the snow-covered ground on the hills above Hogsmeade, looking up at the Shrieking Shack. A huge snake was slithering round his feet, and black-robed figures stood in a circle around him.

"Keep your wands at the ready," he heard himself say quietly to the onlookers. "If anyone comes out of the house, then you know what to do."

Soft laughter and a murmur of "Yes, master," went round the circle and Harry turned away, giving a faint hiss that lingered in the frosty air. The snake at his feet turned its head to look at him. Harry could see his red eyes reflected in the snake's dark, shining ones.

"It is time, Nagini," he whispered in Parseltongue, and drew his wand from beneath his robes. "I cannot get in alone, but you will aid my triumph over the boy...Agonus Anima!"

Harry's vision contorted and for a moment everything went blindingly white. When he could see again, the ground was much closer to him, and his body felt heavy, powerful and sinuous. It was a familiar feeling; Harry was looking out at the silent, snowy land through Nagini's eyes.

His eyes fixed on the not-so-distant Shack, Harry began to slither uphill over the freezing ground. The Death Eaters stepped back respectfully to let the great snake pass. Harry was soaked with snow by the time he had reached the dilapidated building, and the moon threw his winding shadow into sharp relief against the ground as he nosed his way along the side of the Shack. Soon he found a good-sized crack in the wood and effortlessly slid his long, flexible body through the gap. He was inside, underneath the floorboards.

The house was quiet, and the room above him was only faintly lit by a chink of moonlight coming through a pair of curtains that had not been pulled completely together. Harry soon found a loose floorboard and pushed it up and aside. Rising smoothly up, tongue flickering, he crossed the room and moved into the darkened hallway. There was no movement, nor any sound: no one was downstairs.

Harry's pulse was racing and tremors of excitement ran up and down his body as he began, noiselessly, to mount the wooden stairs. He tasted the air with his flickering tongue and then wound his way along the upper corridor. All his senses were alive with anticipation. There were several scratched doors before him, and he paused. Listening, he could hear the breathing of several young humans in one of the rooms. So close to that which he sought, a new rush of exhilaration churned within him. He slid swiftly to the door of that room, and began to nudge it open...

Harry woke from his dream with a shout of panic, knowing even before he opened his eyes what he would see. A massive snake reared up from the floor with a terrible hiss, fangs glistening, and its eyes fixed directly on his.

"NO!" Harry yelled as he saw the snake's eyes gleam a familiar menacing red; there were cries of alarm from all around as the others awoke, and from her cage Hedwig gave an ear-splitting screech. But Harry barely heard; he was already throwing himself bodily backwards, kicking the bedcovers at the snake so that it hissed furiously again and was forced to back off momentarily. As it drew back, spitting, Harry launched himself towards his bedside table and his wand. But it was too late: Nagini, swift and deadly, was upon him. Thick, powerful coils slid rapidly over his body, whipping round his chest, crushing and tightening. Her open jaws were just inches from his face – Harry wrenched himself backwards with a backbreaking effort and the fangs missed him by a hair's breadth. But his muscles were screaming in pain and he was weakening rapidly under the terrible pressure of Nagini's coils; the room began whirling before Harry's eyes as he struggled to free himself.

Seemingly from a long way off, Hermione's voice at last screamed, "Stupefy!" The room lit up with bright red light, but her spell seemed just to bounce off the smooth scales of the snake. Nagini spat and hissed, then open her jaws to reveal her lethal fangs – she was going to strike.

But then Ron was at Harry's side, wandless and wrestling with Nagini herself; he grabbed the snake's neck clumsily and threw his weight backwards, trying to drag her head away from Harry's face. A second later, Ron fell back with a cry of agony: Nagini had sunk her fangs into his shoulder. Panicking, Harry fought against the darkness taking over his oxygen-deprived mind and thought with all his remaining strength, "Levicorpus!"

The snake flew bodily off him, hissing and thrashing in the air. Harry tumbled painfully onto the floor, breathless and aching, just as the door banged open. Moody and Mr Weasley were suddenly in the bedroom, wands held high, and the sound of running feet outside told that more help was on the way.

"Incarcerous!" Ropes burst from both Moody and Mr Weasley's wands towards the snake. But Nagini's eyes gleamed red, and she fell out of the air back onto the floor before the ropes reached their target; they tangled in the air and fell to the floor in a huge knot. The angry snake reared up once more, and Harry, dizzy and on the verge of passing out, did not move out of the way quickly enough. This time, Nagini struck straight and true – directly at Harry's chest.

"STUPEFY!" and "Impedimenta!" roaredseveral voices all at oncebut as before, the spells had no effect on the snake. There was a horrible splintering sound, a crack and a flash of blood-red light, and Harry's chest seared with scorching pain.

Nagini fell to the floor, writhing and thrashing, and with a horrible suddenness Harry was thrown back inside the snake's mind. He could see his own human body lying senseless on the floor before his eyes. But he – Nagini – was in agony, weakening rapidly, and there were people all about him who pinned him down with Binding spells. He felt as though he were dying. Pain was shooting through every muscle in his long snake's body, and the life was draining out of him with terrifying sureness. Something dark deep within him was struggling and contorting, trying to get out. His strength was gone – there was no fight left in him. His head fell to the floor.

And then Harry was screaming in fury back outside in the snow, surrounded by his hooded Death Eaters. He – or Voldemort? – was angrier and more anguished than he could ever remember having been in his entire life...

"Harry! Wake up! HARRY!"

Someone was shaking him very hard, and Harry opened his eyes. He was flat on his back on the floor, exhausted and panting as though he had run a race. He felt sick and weak, and his racing mind took several seconds to realise that he was at last himself again – not inside Voldemort or Nagini. His chest felt as though it were on fire, but his confused senses somehow registered that this was not the pain of a bite. The room was crowded with shocked and shouting Order members, and beside Harry was the lifeless body of Nagini whose eyes were turning dull with death.

"Harry, don't move, you've been bitten –" Remus Lupin was bent over him, concern in every taut line of his face. Ginny, pale and trembling, gripped Harry's hand very tightly in her own, and a shaken-looking Hermione knelt close by. From her cage in the corner, Hedwig clicked her beak in agitation and hooted.

Harry struggled to speak. "No," he panted at last, "I don't think she bit me."

"She didn't –"

"No, she didn't," repeated Harry weakly, his insides clenching as he recalled what he had just seen. Knowing what was happening outside, he tried to sit up and said, "Voldemort is outside – don't go out there, whatever you do –"

There were horrified murmurs from all around the room, and Lupin gripped Harry's shoulders tightly. "Harry, lie down," he said urgently. "What do you mean?"

"Voldemort," repeated Harry, hanging onto Lupin's arm for support. His breathing was shallow and he was shaking. "He's outside, in the snow. He was possessing Nagini."

Lupin swore, letting go of Harry, and stood up abruptly. He reached the window in two strides. But as he yanked back the curtains, Harry found he knew, somehow, that the danger had gone. He could feel it; Voldemort had disappeared, Apparated back to wherever he had come from.

Already Harry felt less sick and shivery, and gave Ginny's hand a small squeeze to reassure her. He looked at Lupin's spare figure, silhouetted against the window, and said hesitantly, "Wait – he – I think he's gone now, Remus." Lupin looked over at him, a crease in his forehead, and closed the hangings again with a final wary glance outside.

"You're still allowing him access to your mind," he said quietly. It was not a question, and Harry could not meet Lupin's eyes. But then –

"Oh my goodness, Arthur just told me what's happened!" cried a terrified voice, and Mrs Weasley appeared in the room, wild-eyed. "Oh, Harry!" she shrieked, pushing Lupin and Ginny unceremoniously out of the way and kneeling down. "Remus, he's been bitten, just like Arthur was!"

"I – I don't think so, Mrs Weasley," said Harry quickly. "I'm not bleeding, but...ouch" He winced as he pulled his pyjama top open and his skin flared in pain again. Mrs Weasley uttered a soft, shocked cry.

"Oh my," said Hermione, drawing sharply back and suddenly sounding breathless. "Harry!"

Harry was staring down at his open pyjama top in blank amazement. He had been wearing the locket Horcrux around his neck, and it was certainly more badly injured than he was. It was beyond repair: horribly twisted, melted and cracked. Shards of metal were pressed into Harry's skin, which was bruised and burnt, though as he had known the fangs had not penetrated his skin. The gold remains were stained with blood, but, as Harry realised as he tentatively fingered the strangely-hot shards, it was not his own. The dark blood had come from inside the ruined locket, which was also dripping with whitish venom.

"Nagini bit it when Voldemort meant her to get me," said Harry wonderingly. "She destroyed it, and herself."

Before anyone could comment, there was a shout from the far side of the room and Bill cried in a strangled sort of voice, "Ron! Oh, heck – Mum, get over here, he's hurt!"

With a sharp shock of dismay and remembrance, Harry realised that Ron had been lying unconscious and unnoticed on the other side of the room, where he had been flung by the thrashing snake. Blood was still seeping from his shoulder. Mrs Weasley gave another scream as she saw him and fairly flew to his side, Harry forgotten. Ginny, too, cried out, and Hermione looked horrified.

"I didn't know he was bitten!" she shrieked, throwing herself down beside Mrs Weasley. She pulled out her wand and began hitting Ron desperately on the face with it. "Ennervate! OhRon, wake up!"

"Don't worry, Hermione, we'll sort him out," said Lupin quickly, hurrying over to examine Ron's wound.

Hermione bit her lip very hard as Lupin carefully stemmed the flow of blood with a huge wad of cotton wool he conjured from thin air. Mrs Weasley, white-faced, vanished the crimson stains from her son's face and clothes with a shaky-sounding "Evanesco." Then she began passing her wand to and fro over the skin, so that it began to knit slowly.

"There," said Lupin, as to Harry's great relief Ron eventually groaned and opened his eyes. Hermione threw herself on him and hugged him.

"Ron, you're so brave!"

Lupin watched her with a slightly sad smile.

"He's lost quite a bit of blood," he said, turning away, "but the bite wasn't too deep, so I think we can heal it here. Do you think you'll need to go to St. Mungo's, Harry?"

"I'd rather not," said Harry hurriedly. "Not again. I'm just a bit – er – burnt. You can heal burns, can't you, Mrs Weasley?"

"Yes," she said tremulously, getting up from Ron's side. "Oh, I wish you three wouldn't –"

"Did someone mention hospital?" interrupted Fred's voice. The twins had just come into the room. "I swear we always spend this day of the year in St Mungo's."

"Yeah, Happy Christmas," added George. "Fighting snakes now, Harry, are we? Voldemort not enough for your gallant heroism?"

"Yeah, that's right," said Harry as casually as he could. He leant against the bed and started prising the shattered locket from his burnt and tender skin. Deep down, underneath the shock, he began to feel a huge relief. The locket and the snake both gone, in one fell swoop! "I hadn't had enough excitement for a while, you see," he told George, and threw the remains of the locket – which felt strangely lighter now – on the floorboards next to Nagini's body.

"Whoa, is Ron all right?" asked Fred, who had just seen his blood-covered brother and was looking at him with concern.

"Yeah," Ron told Fred hoarsely, examining his bitten shoulder. "Never better."

"Right, well, I think we'd better have an emergency Order meeting as soon as I've sorted out Ron and Harry here!" said Mrs Weasley, suddenly businesslike. "I want to know exactly how this snake got in here, and what's going on. Everyone in the kitchen in fifteen minutes!"

"Right you are," growled Moody, and pushed Fred and George before him out of the room. "Let's give Harry and Ron some breathing space. Want me to help, Molly?"

"Remus can, he's good at Healing," said Mrs Weasley. "Go on, everyone get out and maybe do something useful, like finding out where Nagini got in!"

She looked so fierce with her uncombed hair straggling about her face that the room cleared remarkably quickly. When Dedalus Diggle and Mundungus Fletcher had closed the door behind them, Mrs Weasley picked up her wand again.

"Ron, I know your bite is nothing as bad as Arthur's, thank goodness, but his took a long time to heal. I'll have to try to draw out some of the poison. Remus, can you see to Harry? Harry, dear, do lie down..."

Obedient, Harry lay.

"We'll need to get any slivers of metal left in your skin out before we try healing the burn," said Lupin briskly. "It won't take a second. And now you see, here's a chance to use the first spell I ever taught your class."

"Which one...?"

"Waddiwasi!"

Harry yelped as the remaining shards of metal zoomed out of his skin like golden bullets. They whizzed past Lupin and shot into the wall.

"That one," Lupin told him.

"Ouch," said Harry, ruefully looking down at his now even more ripped-looking flesh.

"Best way, I'm afraid, Harry."

Ten minutes later, Harry and Ron walked slowly and carefully to the kitchen. The rest of the Order were gathered there. Nagini's body had been brought downstairs and lay stretched out along the kitchen floor, jaws still open and slightly bloodied. Everyone was being careful not to tread on it.

"Here come the invalids," grinned George when they entered. He pulled out two chairs for them and Harry and Ron gladly dropped into them. Ron's shoulder had been cleaned and bandaged, but he was still looking rather shaken.

"Harry, I'm going to ask you to tell us what just happened in as much detail as you can," said Mrs Weasley gently. "I hate to do this to you when you should be resting, but it's best if we know as soon as possible..."

"That's okay," Harry told her. He felt tired and weak still, but Lupin's Healing charms had soothed his burns and he sat up a little straighter. "Well, I woke up and Nagini was in the room," he said quietly. "I knew she was coming because – because Voldemort was possessing her and at that time I – er – well, I was in Voldemort's mind and saw it all coming."

At this, all the members of the Order of the Phoenix – especially Lupin – looked very grave.

"Not good, my boy, not good; remember what happened before!" squeaked Dedalus Diggle, and Kingsley nodded slowly in agreement.

"You want to be careful, Harry," he said in his deep voice. "Don't let him get control over your mind."

"I know," said Harry, nettled. "I didn't mean it to happen again. Anyway," he continued quickly, "I suppose Nagini could get in because the Fidelius Charm doesn't cover animals?"

"Yes, maybe," said Mrs Weasley, looking anxious and harassed. "And this shack isn't Unplottable or concealed like Grimmauld Place was, even with the Fidelius. Oh, I don't like this; what if You-Know-Who comes back tonight inside another creature? We'll have to do something about it before it's too late. Kingsley, you don't suppose you could run up to the school and see Filius? Now?"

When Kingsley had gone, Harry continued.

"I suppose you all realised that the locket was a Horcrux," he said, and several people nodded. "Er – keep that quiet, if you can, I don't want the Daily Prophet hearing," Harry added hastily, and only went on when they nodded again. "The snake, Nagini, was also a Horcrux. I think that's why the Stunners didn't work on her. Horcruxes can only be destroyed by powerful curses or, well, substances like her venom."

"I see," spoke up Mr Weasley. "So those are two Horcruxes gone, Harry? Well, that's marvellous!"

"Shame to waste that nice bit of gold, though, 'Arry, eh?" muttered Mundungus Fletcher from the corner. Harry ignored him.

"Yes, that's two gone tonight. Now there's only one Horcrux left," he said very quietly, as though the walls could be listening in. "Dumbledore told me what it is – a golden cup – and also where he thinks it might be."

He exchanged a quick glance with Ron, who nodded encouragingly.

"Where is it, Harry?" asked Lupin.

Harry paused. "We think it's in Hogwarts," he said at last.

There was a general outcry, and a sharing of startled looks.

"Hogwarts!" said Diggle squeakily. "Ridiculous! In a school!"

Mr Weasley rubbed his bald patch, frowning. "Where any student could stumble across it – are yousure, Harry?"

"Wait," said Harry impatiently. "No, I'm not sure, but I'm going up there tomorrow to check. You don't have to come, but so you know, we'll be going down to the Chamber of Secrets."

"The Chamber of Secrets!" cried Mrs Weasley. "Oh, not that – that horrible place – well, why don't we just all go down there today, a real Christmas treat, seeing as the day's started off so well anyway!" She looked close to tears as her husband patted her gently on the back. "Sorry," she sniffed at last. "I'm letting everything get to me. I just hate that you have to do all this, Harry!"

"I know," said Harry awkwardly. "But this is good. If the Horcrux is down there, it'll be the last one."

Mrs Weasley looked slightly happier. "We'll all go," she said. "Tomorrow, we'll stand guard and do whatever we can to help," she said.

"I'd rather you didn't –" began Harry, but Hermione elbowed him.

"Don't start, Harry," she warned.

"I'll help you destroy it if you find it," said Bill, leaning on the scratched kitchen table. "I've found out just how to do it last night, though you didn't need it for the locket in the end."

"Amazing, Bill, you're definitely coming with us then," said Ron hurriedly, before Harry could object.

"Settled," yawned Bill, getting up from the table and stretching his arms. "So what's happening now, are we going back to bed or –?"

"We're going to make this place safe before we do anything else!" squeaked an unexpected voice, and Professor Flitwick entered the kitchen followed by Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Filius," said Mrs Weasley, looking immensely relieved. "You know what happened tonight?"

"Kingsley told me everything," said Flickwick gravely, looking at Harry and Ron through his tiny spectacles. "Yes, yes, the Fidelius Charm would do nothing to prevent animals entering, of course – a terrible mistake! Terrible, quite terrible..."

"But there is a way to stop it happening again?" asked Hermione anxiously.

"Oh yes, well, a recasting of the Charm, slightly adapted to accommodate non-human beings, should do it," said Flitwick briskly in his squeaky voice, and took out his wand. "But I think we should make the Shack Unplottable as an extra precaution. Now –"

Harry jumped as a hand suddenly shook him by the shoulder. Mrs Weasley was standing behind him and Ron.

"You can go to bed now, you two," said Mrs Weasley softly as Professor Flitwick began giving orders to the people in the room.

"But I want to see –" began Harry, but was cut off by a stern look that said quite clearly, "Don't argue."

"You need rest!" said Mrs Weasley. "You've just been attacked by a twelve-foot-long snake, for goodness' sake, and it's the middle of the night anyway. I'll come up with you. And Hermione, could you help Ron to his room?"

"I can walk," said Ron indignantly, as Hermione stood up. "I haven't had my foot eaten off or anything, you know."

Harry felt annoyed that he had to miss the recasting of the Fidelius Charm, but when Mrs Weasley had finished bullying them all – Hermione and Ginny included – back into bed, Harry realised just how tired he was. His body still ached from Nagini's crushing grip, and the bed felt luxuriously soft and warm after shivering in the cold kitchen for the last half an hour. His body and chest was still sore, but his muscles slowly relaxed and he could feel himself slipping comfortably into sleep.

"Well, happy Christmas, everyone," yawned Ginny's voice from across the room.

"Yeah, you too, Ginny..." mumbled Harry, and fell asleep to the sound of Ron's snoring.

Next chapter should be up sooner than usual...for once! Please review!!